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Ohio Town: 3 Wawas are Enough

Cincinnati suburb may put brakes on fourth c-store outlet

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Wawa (Chester Heights, Pa.), a fast-growing c-store chain, may have worn out its welcome in a northern suburb of Cincinnati, reports The Cincinnati Enquirer. Fairfield, a city in southwest Ohio, is already the projected home to three Wawa outlets, but a proposed fourth is drawing concerns from both officials and residents.

“I am shocked at what Wawa is trying to do and take over our city,” Bill Roth, a Fairfield resident of 50 years, said at a packed Fairfield City Council meeting in which plans for the store were on the agenda. “We don’t need another gas station in this city.”

The c-store in question would be built on a 4.6-acre site at John Gray Road and Pleasant Avenue, a major artery on the city’s southwest corner. Two of the other locales are on Dixie Highway, (Ohio 4), another major artery that runs northwest through the center of town, and a fourth is on Bypass 4, in the city’s northeast corner.

The site under fire is part of a 24.1-acre property whose owner said they would donate the rest of the land not used for the Wawa to the city. The proposed Wawa would be open 24 hours and have eight double-sided fueling stations, with plans for electric vehicle charging stations. The store would also have a pick-up window for customers to pick up online orders.

Several residents voiced opposition to the project at the council meeting, pointing to concerns about traffic, constant outdoor lighting, flooding and possible impacts on crime and property values.

The project was sent to the town’s planning commission, which subequently voted down changing the zoning of the land to allow for the sale of gasoline, which Wawa says it needs to operate at the site. However, the final determination of the land’s fate will be with the city council, which is expected to take up the issue again next month.

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